Thanks to eBay I now own and am re-watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which I saw a few months ago on a tape without subtitles. It is so much better when you really know what's going on. I hadn't gotten before the whole conflict between the heroine and her fiancee whom she doesn't really love. Or that the hero early on expresses a theory of what love is that sets up the rest of the movie. It's also better now knowing more about these actors - and therefore why it's so funny that the unloved fiancee is played by a mega hunk, they kind of person whom the thought of not loving, not swooning over, is unheard of. It would be kind of like having Colin Farrel play someone that the woman doesn't really care for and having him express his insecurity because he senses this - especially when the the man she does love is not conventionally handsome, but has some kind of everyman goofiness crossed with a swagger that you respond to despite your better judgment - imagine Tom Hanks possessed by Marlon Brando in Guys and Dolls.

The whole thing is delightfully saccharin. There's even a Sound of Music-esque scene of romantic leads in a gazebo during the rain. It is utterly charming and absurd. The weird balance of no kissing with drenched clothes, perfectly suggestive dance moves, and multiple characters calling each other "sexy." There is sweeping music just when you want it, rain just when you want it, obstacles just when you want them, meaningful stares just when you want them - and of course a big shiny bow at the end.

Comments

I've recently discovered your blog via "The Bollywood Fan". I've also read numerous postings to get what your opening was on some of the many movies I've seen already (Big SRK fan over here!). I couldn't resist from laughing aloud when I read you watching K2H2 without subtitles, and finally understanding the movie when getting a version with subtitles. I can totally relate, as my first Bollywood movie (KANK) was the same thing. This is an excellent movie, and found it amusing when John Abraham mimiced the gazebo scene in Dostana (2008). Looking forward to more of your posts!

Hi Brian - Thanks for your note! I've been quite lucky with subtitles overall, despite my griping. I can only remember two with no subtitles at all since this one, and one of those I watched with someone who had seen it before, so I had a narrator.

I saw this movie sans subtitles too! It was also my first Bollywood movie. I'm so glad I came across your blog. It's inspired me to also do a Bollywood review blog, as a way to channel my love for it :) I mentioned you in my first post.